One type of agricultural machine is an agricultural combine. Agricultural combines are engine powered machines that harvest, thresh, separate and clean an agricultural crop. The resulting clean grain is stored in a grain tank located on the combine. The clean grain can then be transported from the grain tank to a truck, grain cart or other receiving bin by an unloading auger.
Such agricultural combines typically include a cooling package to remove heat from the coolant circulating through the engine powering the agricultural combine. The cooling package may include, for example, a housing mounting a radiator, and a rotary screen mounted on the air intake side of the radiator. Due to the presence of dust and chaff during operation of the agricultural combines, the rotary screen begins to collect the dust and chaff on the outer surface of the rotary screen. A vacuum duct is used to transfer the material, e.g., dust and chaff, off of the outer screen surface of the rotary screen during operation. The dust and chaff removed by the vacuum duct thus bypasses the cooling package via the vacuum duct and exits through the engine fan, which in turn safely returns to the surrounding air.
Other debris may be introduced in the region of the cooling package that have sufficient density and mass such that if the debris comes in contact with the fan blades of the engine fan, some of the debris may be propelled into the radiator and potentially damage the cooling fins of the radiator, or possibly penetrate the radiator core. For example, in some agricultural combine configurations, the cooling package may be in relatively close proximity to the grain tank. If during the operation of the agricultural combine the grain tank overflows, it is possible that some of the grain may be inadvertently introduced into the cooling package, and in turn be propelled by the fan as a projectile into the radiator.